Newly appointed president of PAL (Philippine Airlines) Holdings Incorporated Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr. is dead. Doctors who attended to him says he died of brain herniation, a deadly side effect on the brain when very high pressure is applied and the brain is squeezed across structures within the skull.

He died at 9am when his father and name sake, Lucio Tan senior decided to pull the plug. Medical records show that the cause of death was brain herniation sec to CVD infarct, bilateral cerebral hemisphere secondary to dissecting ascending aorta.

Tan, 52, was wheeled to a nearby hospital when he collapsed during a Pinoy Liga cup finals basketball game at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong.

A basketball patron and avid supporter of basketball, Tan was playing for PAL when he suddenly collapsed at 2:56 mark of the second quarter and PAL leading Exile, 35-28. Medics say Tan was unconscious when he was brought to an undisclosed hospital.

Tan brought Tanduay Distillers to public prominence when he revived it and joined the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) in 1995.

Before he died, Tan was appointed as President of PAL Holdings Incorporated and head coach of the University of the East.